Vegetarian Recipe Blog

Appetizers / Snacks

Remember the spicy dosa/ Uppu huli dosa a popular South Kanara dish that I had posted earlier? The one in which the batter does not require fermentation and the dosas can be made instantly? With the batter you can makes the dosas (of course) but then with the left over batter you can make these spicy pan fried eggplants.

Crispy on the outside, soft in the inside and coated with delectable batter, they make good side dish with rice –daal or rice –rasam, yogurt rice. The idea for this comes from “Heerekai dosa” a traditional specialty of Karnataka made using ridge gourd. It is a unique one of a kind dosa in which these rings coated in batter are placed in the form of a circle. Batter in poured in the spaces, holding it together giving a lacy appearance.

However I prefer cooking them individually (instead of a circle) as I feel it is easy to handle and control. You can substitute eggplant/brinjal with other vegetables like potato or ridgegourd/heerekai.

Did you know that in the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity in the New Year? Quite frankly I did not know this either and heard about it only recently from a friend. Not sure if it brings good luck or not, but I am pretty sure that they are good for you. Black-eyed peas are very good fiber sources, rich sources of potassium, natural sodium and zinc.

I like preparing salads like these ahead of time so that the flavors of the dressing can marinate and incorporate with the peas and the vegetable. I make a big batch of this and snack on them when I am hungry. It is not only filling but then I feel good about what I am eating.

The predominant flavor of this salad comes from the lemon juice, so use it liberally. Substitute the beans and veggies with your choice if you do not prefer the ones that I have suggested here.

Ingredients:

1 can black eyed peas (rinsed and drained )

1/2 cup red onion chopped

½ cup chopped cucumber

¼ cup corn (fresh/frozen)

1/2 cup bell pepper chopped

1 jalapeno seeded and chopped

handful cilantro, chopped

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

¼ tsp sugar

¼ tsp Pepper powder /crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp oil

Method:

If using canned black eyed peas then drain the liquid and rinse the beans. Drain water completely.

Else you can soak the black eyed peas overnight and pressure cook the following day. Drain the cooked liquid (or use it for something else) and use only the cooked beans.

In a big bowl add the veggies first and toss it gently. Add the cooked peas, cilantro, corn and combine them well.

Add salt, sugar, lemon juice, pepper powder and stir well.

Let it sit aside for an hour or so, so that veggies soak up all the goodness.

Chivda is a snack popular in Maharashtra and North Karnataka usually made of flattened rice/poha. The poha is first deep fried and it is then spiced with masala mix and jazzed up with other ingredients like peanuts, raisins, cashews etc. Crispy and delicious it is a wonderful tea time snack or also as an appetizer.

Referred to by different names in India, it is one of the important snacks made during the festival of Diwali. It is simply referred to as Mixture in South India

In this version of Chivda/Mixture, I have used the cereal Corn Flakes and dry roasted it along with some masala mix and raisins, peanuts etc. This is quick and low –fat version and does not involve deep frying. I have adapted this from the Veg Inspirationsrecipe and followed her advice of making roasted curry leaves and red chilli powder for the spice mix. That makes a huge difference to the taste, so do not skip it.

Heat a small pan and roast red chillies and curry leaves in a drop of oil, until the chillies start turning darker and the curry leaves loses its green color and looks dry. Keep aside to cool.

Spice mix: After it is cooled, grind it in a dry grinder/spice grinder. Transfer it to a small bowl, add sugar, salt, aamchur (dry mango powder) and mix well. Check for taste, as this has to be pretty strong.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the hing/asafetida, 2-3 red chillies (broken), green chillies, peanuts, and raisins to this and sauté until the peanuts turns crispy.

Note: Make sure it is on medium flame else the peanuts/groundnuts will turn brown.

Add the corn flakes cereal to this and stir it well for about 30-40 seconds until the seasonings coats well.

Sprinkle the spice mix/ ground spice mixture in small batches and mix well.

Add the readymade boondi or sev and mix again. Stir on low flame for about 3-4 minutes until it gets crispy.